Richie Kotzen made his debut at the tender age of 19, quickly establishing himself as one of the fastest young guns in the whole Shrapnel Records corral. From the start, his style has been admirably fluid, incorporating techniques like tapping and sweeping to create extended legato passages of daunting complexity.

Kotzen has lent these skills to both Poison and Mr. Big. In recent years, he’s emerged as an all-around classic rock talent, adding a soulful Paul Rodgers/Rod Stewart/Steve Marriott–influenced vocal style to his considerable resources as a guitarist.

Lots of great players were not on the list, but have been mentioned by others.
Frank Zappa taught or discovered several of these guys and was an awesome, fearsome player-not on the list.
Another life-altering player is Jan Ackerman. Check out the extended version of Hocus Pocus.
For the New Yorkers reading this, remember John Gatto from the Good Rats and Vito Bratta from White Lion?

This isn't about "best" players. It's about fastest players. Strictly speed. Though, George Benson is no slouch in those terms. A shredder by any other name. That's not a criticism. I love to hear Benson play. I just wish he would stop singing. Brother Benson, no harm meant.

Speed is good. I can use more. However, if what is being played is not worth listening to it becomes another exercise or worse masturbation.

One of my favorite songs clocks in at 40bpm. It is "Not My Cross to Bear" by the Allman Brothers. There are 3 solos in this song. I believe Duane Allman takes the first two and Diki Betts takes #3.
If any of these speed demons can play as tastefully as Duane Allman let me know.

Control and Resistance by Watchtower is kickass and wheres that dude from Kentucky that blew Paul Gilbert away? He contracted a weird disease and blew up like a blimp. Steve Howe was a monster on the acoustic,his guitars were bigger than he was lol.

GW really needs to listen to Per Nilsson... he's by FAAAAR my favorite current meta/shred guitarist even if I don't necessarily like his band (Scar Symmetry). He's very technical (more than Petrucci for example) and his phrasing is simply incredible (and his improv skills are great). He simply brings fresh ideas to every song-solo.

Case in point, the solo to Ghost Prototype 1 (skip to 2:34) showcases incredible phrasing with flashes of Vai, Petrucci, Malmsteen, Friedman, etc. all blended in Per's great style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKnyvtzMRRA

The solo to Noumenon and Phenomenon is also very well composed (and technical)...

Ummmm, usually I don't like commenting on other people lists and I know that some have to be left out, but, where is Ritchie Blackmore guys?? Seriously, he isn't there? John Sykes? Akira Takasaki? Dick Dale? I'm not a specialist at all, but I think these guys could be considered essential if we talk about fast playing...

Little web design tip for ya: If you're going to have a top 50 list, but the "next" buttons at the bottom AND the top. I'm not going to scroll down to the bottom of the screen to hit next and view all 50 pages.

I find it interesting that Synyster Gates was added to this list on one of Avenged Sevenfold's EARLIEST albums...

Synyster Gates, or Brian Haner Jr. to some, has always been a favorite of mine because of the intricacy of his playing style. Yes, I do concede that Malmsteen is a fantastic and incredibly fast guitarist, but listen to his recordings. 90 percent of the noise you hear comes from the effects and echos he uses. Alot of these guitarists are what I like to call "tappers" using the form of tapping to create a faster speed lick or riff. I like the use of the technique, but it doesnt contribute to your picking speed at all. Any beginner guitarist can tap out a fast solo, but it takes years of practice, effort and skill to sweep pick a solo that isn't just a simple chord progression.

I believe Synyster Belongs at the top of the list because his speed has only increased since "Eternal Rest", his skills have far improved since then, and his technique is mind blowing. Say what you like, but He truly does belong on this list.

Don't believe me? Check this video out and tell me otherwise. This is LIVE material, just think of what he does in the studio.

Chris Broderick and Michael Lee Firkins should be on this list. After seeing Michael Lee Firkins at a guitar clinic in the 90's, I am a life-long fan. Between his speed and odd technique of using his whammy bar to mimic the sounds of a slide, one thing that still stands out is his great song writing. As far as Chris Broderick, just do a search on YouTube and watch!

Yeah I agree about putting young Mr. Gates on the list-he is good-but not comparable to the people who should dominate here. There are quite a few really great guitarist on here that just don't come to mind when the word speed is mentioned. Like EVH for example one of the greats and he is definitley no sloth but it's not the same speed category as say Malmsteem or Buckethead. It's kinda like comparing the speed of a Corvette to that of a Top Fuel Dragster-The Corvette will do 198 mph which is very fast but the dragster gets to 330mph. Another big difference is the dragster only goes straight ahead while the Corvette can go anywhere. When you say EVH then you must admit that there are a slew of guys who followed his lead and can play just as fast but also aren't on the list like DeMartini or Lynch. All fast and all good but again not like Malmsteem, Buckethead, or Batio. Heck what about Gillis and Watson? So I mean it's one thing to ask a question like "who is the best" and then anybody can make the list but speed and accuracy is more of a measurable subject. That's my little bitch hahaha. Oh and while I'm bitching I also feel the need to mention that I am going through listening to the guitarists I haven't heard before and I got stopped at Mick Barr and the blurb about him. Question: How can you say, "lack of repetition prove that he’s working on another level altogether"? For 3 minutes he (literally) repeats the same lick-that's called repetition-but I will agree, he is working on another level hahaha. I can't tell how fast he's going but I can tell you I'd much rather hear Ty Tabor play at 80bpm than this. BTW don't get me wrong cuz I do love the superfast guitar players too but I just prefer some melody, some soul, some purpose other than speed alone. I guess I just don't get it.

Since when are emos who pretend to be metal the best? You obviously don't know shit about the guitar. I doubt you have ever even heard of Django Reinhardt. By the way, fix up your spelling and grammar.

Rusty is awesome and very fast. I am glad to see you did not even include Synyster Gates, who in the world would have put him on the list of fastest guitarist of all time. GW really dropped the ball on this poll.

Yngwie didn't make the list? That is absurd. I remember hearing him on some syndicated metal show back in maybe '85. They played "Evil Eye". I was floored. Untill then, the fastest guitar player I was aware of was Alvin Lee (10 Yrs After) or maybe Ed VH. But Yngwie was mind blowing with his speed. Especially back then. Being fast is one thing, but being fast AND accurate is another thing all together. YJM was the first guy to be super fast and super clean about it, that I ever heard back then.

Yngwie blows Synyster Gates away with ease. I am sure Gates will even admit this himself. More than half of the list blows him away. GW does not have a clue of what their own poll should consist of. It does not matter the genre of music, if someone is the fastes at guitar, they are the fastest at guitar.

Sorry but "irregardless " is an acceptable english word. Although it is considerd non-standard in many dictionaries. It has been in use since the early 1900's and has appeared in many dictionaries as a non-standard usage of the common "regardless". Websters New international accepts it as a double negative of regradless that has come into common usage even though it is grammatically incorrect.

I am rarely embarrassed over my usage of language, but punctuation, spelling and out of tune 11h chords are a different matter.

wheres Chris Broderick or Rusty Cooley? sure they haven't accomplished as much as some of the people on this list but that's not the point of the article, it's about who's the fastest and both of those guys need to be on there, there segments in "betcha can't play this" speak for themselves.

I agree, these two alone are way faster than the current leader Synyster Gates. Just because one may have Avenged Boxer shorts does not make him the fastest. These people do not know what the pole stands for obviously. Fastest Guitarist of all time. Not guitarist in most popular band. Even the person who put the list together is not up to bar on their own pole.